Bible School!
Hello! So, I am now enrolled at Kings Evangelical Divinity School (KEDS) on the Master of Arts in Theology course! It has been quite a process to get to this point! And for you, maybe you are surprised by the speed in which it happened! I wanted to go into a bit more detail with explaining my journey to Bible school.
So, I have been wanting to get more Bible and theology training for a long time now, but it never felt like the right time. God has wanted us both to be in full-time ministry here in Japan. After being here together for two years, my wife and I were praying and dreaming about what the next season may look like and what God wants us to do.
We started to feel that it may be God's timing for me to pursue this training now! And we felt that this training will really help with what God has for us in the future, particularly thinking about starting new ministry in the northern part of Japan: Tohoku. Also, it seemed like the best timing for me to get further training before our son grows up and goes to school himself.
So, we started to explore Bible schools in the UK. After speaking with some good friends and searching around, we were able to narrow it down to a couple of schools. This was when we came across a disappointing brick wall: Naoko is not able to get a visa! This is mostly because we lack the annual income that the government requires.
As you can imagine, we were greatly discouraged by this. So we went back to prayer. Through prayer, we still felt that God wanted me to pursue Bible school, and that I should search some more. A few minutes after praying with Naoko, I stumbled across KEDS, which is an online school. The modules looked great and we felt peace with me contacting them.
Their MA in Theology course stood out in particular, but they usually only accept applicants who have done an undergraduate degree in Theology. I emailed them and asked about applying based on my missionary experience and they said I can apply, but with no guarantees. So I felt peace with applying just to test the waters. I prayed, "God, if you don't want me on this course, please close the door! But if it's your will, please show me your favour." I then waited.
It wasn't long before I received an email saying I had been accepted! I was surprised, excited and a little overwhelmed, not knowing what I had got myself into.
So here I am. I am studying as part of an MA course, while also continuing to be a missionary with YWAM in Tokyo, and still learning how to be a dad! I have been studying for about a week so far, and I am realising my weakness when it comes to reading and taking notes. So many books and articles to read! And so many notes!
I am enjoying it, even if still a little overwhelmed! I have been reading a lot about how to write essays to a high standard using big words, how to stay a Christian while studying (studying about God! Who would have thought?), and I am now reading about some kind of new perspective on Paul- which seems to be a big deal to scholars!
Anyway, I wanted to give more details on Bible school as we wanted to keep our newsletter short! Feel free to ask me questions about what I'm reading! Look forward to updating you as time goes on!
Gary
So, I have been wanting to get more Bible and theology training for a long time now, but it never felt like the right time. God has wanted us both to be in full-time ministry here in Japan. After being here together for two years, my wife and I were praying and dreaming about what the next season may look like and what God wants us to do.
We started to feel that it may be God's timing for me to pursue this training now! And we felt that this training will really help with what God has for us in the future, particularly thinking about starting new ministry in the northern part of Japan: Tohoku. Also, it seemed like the best timing for me to get further training before our son grows up and goes to school himself.
So, we started to explore Bible schools in the UK. After speaking with some good friends and searching around, we were able to narrow it down to a couple of schools. This was when we came across a disappointing brick wall: Naoko is not able to get a visa! This is mostly because we lack the annual income that the government requires.
As you can imagine, we were greatly discouraged by this. So we went back to prayer. Through prayer, we still felt that God wanted me to pursue Bible school, and that I should search some more. A few minutes after praying with Naoko, I stumbled across KEDS, which is an online school. The modules looked great and we felt peace with me contacting them.
Their MA in Theology course stood out in particular, but they usually only accept applicants who have done an undergraduate degree in Theology. I emailed them and asked about applying based on my missionary experience and they said I can apply, but with no guarantees. So I felt peace with applying just to test the waters. I prayed, "God, if you don't want me on this course, please close the door! But if it's your will, please show me your favour." I then waited.
It wasn't long before I received an email saying I had been accepted! I was surprised, excited and a little overwhelmed, not knowing what I had got myself into.
So here I am. I am studying as part of an MA course, while also continuing to be a missionary with YWAM in Tokyo, and still learning how to be a dad! I have been studying for about a week so far, and I am realising my weakness when it comes to reading and taking notes. So many books and articles to read! And so many notes!
I am enjoying it, even if still a little overwhelmed! I have been reading a lot about how to write essays to a high standard using big words, how to stay a Christian while studying (studying about God! Who would have thought?), and I am now reading about some kind of new perspective on Paul- which seems to be a big deal to scholars!
Anyway, I wanted to give more details on Bible school as we wanted to keep our newsletter short! Feel free to ask me questions about what I'm reading! Look forward to updating you as time goes on!
Gary
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